Is There a God?
Hebrews 11:1-6
“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” – Hebrews 11:3
A Research Group conducted a poll about religion. They asked a cross section of American adults: “If you could ask God any question about your life, what is the single most important question you would ask him?” The results of these polls yielded very similar answers. Many of the questions had to do with suffering, life purpose, life after death, the end of the world, God’s will, and the nature of God.
We begin this series with the question, “ Is there a God?”
Since the beginning of time, human beings have always wondered about God’s existence and the meaning of life. But did you know that the question of God's existence goes to the core of human existence? For many centuries and many societies, what they believe about God determines what they believe about their lives and how they should live, for example Hindus and Mayans. Every civilization, even with no contact with each other, questioned the existence of God because it is in the core of human existence to seek God. In other words, their belief in God determines their behavior. Many values and morals that people have, are rooted in a belief in God. If God exists, life matters. If God doesn’t exist, we are left to our own ideas, with truth being a relative idea, which depends upon the rules of culture. Those who believe in God feel that without God there is no morality, no goodness, and no absolute truth, because God is the source of all these things.
So I will ask again, “Is There A God?”
There once was a pastor and an atheist talking. When they got to the subject of religion, the atheist said, “I can not believe in God.” The pastor replied, “You mean, you can not bring yourself to follow him?” “No,” he claimed, “I mean, I really can not believe that God exists. How can anyone believe in God, when the world is as messed up as it is? How can there be so much evil if God exists in the world?” “The fool has said in his heart, There is no God, they are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none who does good.” - Psalm 53:1
But, dear children of God, understand that there is a difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge.
As a pastor, I have had many conversations with people about God. But it is important to take these conversations seriously, because many people genuinely want to believe in God. But they can not seem to get over their worldly intellectual obstacles. They desire to be convinced that God exists, but their science for not believing in God will not let them. For them, their god is what can be observed and studied.
When I speak with Christians about the existence of God, many of them answer that it involves faith. However, when Christians have conversations with people, who have serious doubts about the existence of God, sometimes many Christians are unable to give a proper answer. “Be ready [to] give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15) For the Christian faith will be challenged.
All of us, at one time or another, have wondered about the existence of God. Some people seek legitimate arguments for the existence of God to help bring them to faith in God. Some people desire clear and concise explanations for God’s existence to reason for their beliefs.
Today, I would like to discuss 2 points about the existence of God.
The Design Argument
The first and most compelling arguments for the existence of God is what is often called “the design argument.” This argument was preached by philosopher William Paley, also known as the “Paley’s Watch” argument. The argument goes like this:
If you happened to stumble upon a watch, if you had never seen a watch or heard about one, if you broke it open to look at it's complicated parts, you would conclude that this watch was made by a watchmaker. In the same way, the world we observe is too complex and too beautiful to have simply happened by chance. The world must have been created and designed by a divine intelligence, a creator.
We have all observed a beautiful tree, flower, or mountain, and exclaim, “Only God could have created that!” The psalmist said, “I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well” (Psalm 139:14). Just a glance at the beauty around us and the wondrous details of our working bodies, we can only conclude that there is a God who is behind everything.
According to science and biology, the world exists by chance. But that is as logical as a tornado touching down in a junkyard, rearranging all the parts, and leaving a fully operational Boeing 747. Such an event is clearly impossible, and so is the creation of the world without a designer.
If you are still not convinced, maybe you came from fish to apes, but I was molded by the hands of God in His image.
The Significance of Jesus Christ
Through the Paley’s Watch argument, we can believe in a “higher power” or divine force. However, these arguments do not explain the nature of God. For example, we may believe that God created the world, but what does it say about God when there is a natural disaster? Or what about people who worship many gods or have different religions that are in conflict over the nature of God and how God operates in the world? What kind of God are we to believe in?
This is the significance of Jesus Christ. Because we are limited to our worldly eyes, we can never fully understand and know God on our own. We needed God to come down to our level and demonstrate His nature. And this is what God does in Jesus Christ. In Christ, God demonstrates to us what He is like and proves His everlasting love toward us, by dying on a cross. The birth, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ allows us to understand God’s nature and power. “So what are we going to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He didn’t spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. Won’t he also freely give us all things with him?” — Romans 8:31-32. Most importantly, through Christ, we are able to understand a loving God and that we are redeemed from sin and given new life.
In most religions, human beings are reaching for God. Only in the Christian faith does God reach for us. In Christ, a celestial God came into our world and transformed our lives. God’s revelation to us in Jesus Christ is so significant that it is called special revelation. Unlike general revelation, special revelation is God’s particular and deliberate act of revealing His love to us. This is the reason why many theologians state that when talking about God, we must begin with Christ, because in Christ, we experience the true nature of God.
Conclusion
A man once visited a Sunday school class. The subject was on being “born again.” A national magazine had done a story about being "born again", and the class wanted to discuss it. The teacher of the class that day was a doctor in the community. He said to the class, “Five years ago I didn’t believe in God. I hated the idea of God, and I hated the church. I was a man of reason, of science. I was too smart for that kind of stuff. And I was living the life! I was making a lot of money as a big shot doctor. Then I came home late one night to an empty house. There was a note on the kitchen table from my wife and kids that read, ‘We don’t know you anymore.’ And at that moment, I fell backward into a deep pit. For the first time in my life, the thing I wanted the most I could not have. And I fell back further and further and further. Then something pulled me. Something grabbed and pulled me up. I was saved. I was born again.” Then the doctor looked at the class and asked, “Does God exist? You bet he does. He saved me.”
Do you really want to know if God exists? Give God your heart and ask him to cleanse you of all your sins and put a new spirit within you. Once you experience God’s redeeming love, your question will no longer be, “Does God exist?” but “How did I exist without God in my life?” God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah and said, “When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all of your heart” (29:13). Amen.
